Mum had her surgery last Thursday and was discharged yesterday following a slow recovery as she was intolerant to all painkillers except paracetamol. In the hospital the nurses were turning her every few hours to avoid bedsores. I found out that last night she had her partner turn her every few hours to avoid bed sores, is this necessary even though she is up during the day now? I mean just up in a chair and taking short walks around the house, she's not ready for anything more than that right now. Any other advice as to what she can be doing now, without over doing things?

14 Replies

I am the same age as your mum, and I wasn't turned every few hours when I was in hospital or afterwards when I was home, neither did I have pain killers, so speaking only from my own experience I don't think it is necessary, but I wonder why the nursing staff found it necessary to do this in hospital, maybe she has a weight problem (ie underweight or overweight) I don't know, she should be having the distict nurses visiting her, perhaps she should ask their advice on this as it must be disturbing her sleep pattern, it is still early days she should be taking it easy though with no lifting anything (even a kettle) and no stretching like hanging out washing, no pushing the Hoover around either, she doesn't want to give herself a hernia. I am sorry that you are living so far away from your mum it must be very worrying for you, sending my best wishes love x G x

Thank you Gwyn, amazing to think that after such big surgery you could manage without painkillers, but I believe mum has been doing much better since they took her off the meds except for the paracetamol. She is overweight, though by no means to the point where I would have been concerned about sores unless she was in bed all the time. There has been no mention of district nurses, though I only arrived after she was discharged. They did not appear to give her any information regarding post discharge, so I'm feeling a bit in the dark. Mum tends to get some things muddled, or forgets things (just since this diagnosis).

X

4 years agoHidden

Hi Britnak,

I am sorry I didn't mean to put your mum down by saying I had no pain killers, I do have a high threshold of pain though, I merely mentioned that because they didn't turn me over, I had the operation on the Thursday home on the Monday district nurses arrived on Wednesday and they couldn't believe that I had an operation... they said I looked too well and stood up too straight, I then said that on the information sheet it adviced this..they said most people can't.

(stand up staight) which reminds me that she should have been given an information leaflet on what (or not) to do...and even though I didn't think I needed a district nurse they sent them anyway.. but asked them to wait until the Wednesday as I was a bit touchy about it LOL .

I understand her getting muddled... it is a big shock.. and to be honest I had that much information before and afterwards...that it can be overwhelming.

Goodness, I didn't think that, I was merely amazed that such a big surgery could involve little pain afterwards. In fact my mum said today that she wasn't in pain, but took the paracetamol in case. I have now found a couple of discharge booklets about hysterectomy recovery, but nothing specific to my mums actual discharge or circumstances. Having spoken with Ruth at Ovacome I realize I don't know enough!

Hi! Glad your Mum is getting imver her op. In addition to Gwyn's wise words, my Mum had an op last year (not OC) and ended up getting an ulcerated leg from a pressure sore. This was cos of sleeping on one side all the time. She has now got a lamb skin, which she got from Amazon, abut £35, she puts this under her lower legs and feet. It keeps her warm, helping sores to heal and apparently helps to prevent them. She is 87 and has poor circulation in her legs. It can't harm, anyway! She finds it very comfortable. Hope it helps your Mum.

Hi I hope your mum continues to improve, there is such a lot of bad press from poor care in hospitals and pressure ulcers that most hospitals have instituted turning regimes to ensure that all patients are assessed every 2 hours and I suspect this is why your mum was turned so often in hospital. Not ideal as not particularly individualised. Now she is home as long as she keeps adjusting her position and takes regular walks around the home she should be fine, just keep an eye for any areas of ski that appear to be blanching of are red and excoriated. Keeping the circulation going is key and avoiding pressure on any area for longer than 2 hours.

Hi. When I was in hospital for my op last year they had special electric beds that I effectively massaged you to help prevent bed sores....at 42 and (then) with no weight problems I'm not sure how necessary it was for me. However I was up and about quite quickly, and once I was didn't need any help walking.

I do remember my Gran was in hospital after a fall, and came out with horrendous bedsores because the hospital staff didn't look after her properly, they didn't even help her to wash properly, so I would say its much better to have nurses that wee on the side of caution!

The best thing she can do is to rest. She should try to have little walks but remind her not to go too far, she has to walk back! I built up carefully by walking a little way up our cul de sac and back...I could always walk an extra house length if I felt up to it

Gave me a little giggle thanks for the advice, once the snow had gone we will work on short walks outside! Just around the house at the moment. And they gave her a walking stick, not sure if that's a help or not right now :/

4 years agoHidden

Hi Britnak,

I think most of the replies on here are about older people who would have a problem with bedsores,older peoples skin is thinner so they then suffer with pressure points...as far as your mum is concerned I don't think she would have this problem... So I hope she gets well quick and wishing her a speedy recovery love x G x

As usual I`m always in a rush so this means I haven`t had the chance to read through eveyone elses posts so please forgive me if I repeat this advice.

Contact the mc millon nurses, they will always be happy to come out and visit your dear mum, I did this and she ordered me a special matress which prevents sores. I didn`t think I needed it but but the nurse insisted, she also ordered me a cushion to sit on which I use a lot still because I have problems with my coxic bone.

Also make sure your mum is creamed well, E45 lotion is a good one to use, I cream myself after my daily shower`s. There are different types of E45 lotions and creams, some are good with burns which is more likely to be the cream and more likely to be the onbe fopr bed sores. You could ask your pharmacy or again the Mc million nurse would know. You can give them a bell anytime. Number should be in the yellow pages as they vary from area to area I think.